Jon and others in southern Cali...

Hope y'all make it through the flooding and potential mudslides happening right now.  Check in with us to let us know you're alright!

Looks like it is mostly over for now, but more coming for the weekend, maybe. 5-1/2" of rain here. I am sure Sue had twice that. This is called a Pineapple Express. Warm tropical moisture all the way from Hawaii gets sucked in by a large low pressure. It acts like a huge hose, and wherever it points, gets hammered. Everyone else is relatively dry. LA was at the center of the hose, and we are at the fringe. They got 10-15 inches, and we got much less.  If the "hose" points to the Sierras, they end up with 2 or 2-/12 times normal snow pack. Mammoth Resort had 9' of new snow by Monday, and should have 20' or so now. The problems come when the soil gets super-saturated, and all the extra weight causes large chunks of clay soil to move, causing landslides.

I have seen there have already been a couple of serious landslides.  Had our SoCal fig friends in the back of my mind the last 48 hours or so. 

Quick funny: My parents are in town to spend time with their new granddaughter, and my mom laughed in disbelief when I explained that "Pineapple express" was actually a weather phenomenon.  I had to go online and prove it to her.

Was that 20 feet of snow, Jon?  I can't even comprehend 9', never mind 20'.

I didn't know anything was happening out that way.  God be with you all.

Never heard of the "Pineapple Express" before

More info:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Express

That's what I had to show to my mom for her to believe me ;)

Jon,

Where is Mammoth Resort?
About how far is it from you?
And I "Assume" it is in high elevation?

I heard Colorado was supposed to get hit with 8' of snow but haven't heard it actually happened.
20' of snow is way too much for any place in North America.

Hope all is O.K. with you.

Never mind the elevation question,
Just googled it. Duhhh

I passed by that place a couple months ago. Beautiful area.

Yah, I say they did get hammered.

Yes, 20'.

Mammoth is in the Sierra Mountains, SE of Yosemite, and S of Lake Tahoe. Yosemite is mostly on the west side of the Sierras, and Mammoth is on the backside (E side).